Science Isn't Everything
by EvelynElizabeth214
Summary: Kristyn Rosalie Warlick-Quaritch is the daughter of Miles Quaritch, but nothing like him. She gets a chance to be a part of the Avatar program even though she isn't a scientist, and her life completely changes once she gets to Pandora. WARNING: may contain triggers at some point, and some very explicit language throughout.
1. Chapter 1

For the most part, the day was uneventful for Kris. She had just arrived on Pandora, and even though she was a Marine, she was there to help with all the 'science stuff', as she called it. As she was heading to the Avatar room, she saw none other than her father, who stopped her to talk to her.

"Kristyn," he said when he saw her. He was the only person she knew that still called her Kristyn. "You better not screw up while you're here. I hope you'll be able to replace your brother. He died for a good cause, and if you aren't as dedicated as him, you'll either die, or get sent back home." he finally finished. Kris didn't respond and passed him, rolling her eyes.

"If only he had the slightest bit of hope for me. But of course, he never will." she said to herself under her breath as she entered the Avatar room.

When she walked in, Dr. Grace Augustine looked up at her from her work and smiled. "Kris, right?" Grace said, walking over to the girl, shaking her hand. Kris just nodded in response, also smiling. "And Nathan was your brother?" Grace asked as the two walked towards the back of the room.

"Yeah," Kris replied as they approached three guys.

"Guys, we have our last person for the avatars." Grace said to them. All three guys turned to face the two women at the sound of Grace's voice. "This is Kris Warlick. She's Nathan's twin sister." Grace introduced her to the three.

"I see the resemblance." one of the three guys said. Kris concluded that by the way he looked, he was a super-nerd and knew everything about probably everything. She also noticed that one of the guys was in a wheelchair and must've been in the Marines, also. She also had the shirt he was wearing.

"So, Kris, if you'll follow me, I'll show you your avatar and tell you everything you need to know about the operation here." Grace then said, starting to walk away, Kris following. For a while, they were walking around the room trying to find the avatar that would've been her brothers, but now had been changed to a girl so it wouldn't be a waste of time. It wasn't all that hard for Grace to find it. Most of what she said also went right over Kris' head. She hardly understood any of it. Too 'sciencey' for her. "Did you get all that?" Grace then asked her to make sure.

"I think my head's gonna explode." Kris said as a reply. Grace chuckled ever so slightly. "That's what I thought." she said back. "Maybe Norm can it explain it better - in mostly plain English." Then Grace went to go find whoever Norm was. When she got back, they guy that had pointed out Kris' &amp; Nathan's resemblance was behind her. "This is Norm, and he is, I guess you could say my 'assistant' in some ways." Grace introduced him. Then she went to go do something that was important with whatever they all were working on while on Pandora.

"So, I get to try to explain the whole Avatar program and what we do here?" Norm said as he sat beside Kris.

"Yep," she replied, already sounding bored. 'Damn my short attention span.' she thought to herself as Norm started explaining everything again, but in a way that she understood better. "First you should know that people like Grace and I aren't here because of the Unobtanium that's apparently somewhere around here. We're here to study the people and wildlife - both plant and animal - here on Pandora. We have these Avatars so we can get around better outside the base perimeter and so we don't scare the natives here, the Na'vi. Each avatar is for a specific person, sharing their DNA, but in the form of a Na'vi-human hybrid. Your avatar, of course, would've been your brothers, so you probably know what alterations had to be made to fit your specific DNA." Norm said in one long speech. Kris nodded.

"Yeah," she said, looking at her avatar self. "Had to give it a sex change. And I'm the only one here that has the guts to say something like that out loud." she concluded. Norm chuckled.

"Yeah, actually, you are."

"So, is that it? Is that really all I need to know? 'Cuz it took Grace a lot longer to try to explain everything to me." Kris then asked, looking over at Norm.

"Well, she probably also told you about how we interact with the natives here and even taught them English and stuff like that." Norm replied, standing up. Then Kris stood up, too, and noticed that she was almost as tall as he was. She could tell it intimidated him a little bit. That made her laugh a little on the inside. Then, Grace came in from the other side of the room, and Kris was glad, because the atmosphere in the room was borderline awkward.

"So, Kris, do you understand everything better?" Grace asked, a smile still on her face. Kris noticed how comfortable Grace seemed. It made her a little more comfortable, too.

"Yes I do." Kris replied, smiling a little.

"Good," Grace said back as she started doing something on the clipboard-like thing in her hand. "You will give your avatar a test run first thing in the morning. Myself and Norm will be somewhere in our avatar forms ourselves. We'll be able to help you while you get used to being ten feet tall." At Grace's last statement, Kris cocked an eyebrow.

"Ten feet tall? Holy shit." she said, forgetting to watch her language, something she had told herself to do before she even got to Pandora. Both Grace and Norm scoffed ever so slightly, both amused at what Kris said. "Sorry about that. I should probably watch my language." Kris said shyly.

"It's fine. I'm used it." Grace said, still somewhat amused.

"I'm gonna have to guess that's one of the few things that makes you and your father similar?" Norm then said, coming up beside Kris.

"More like the only thing that makes us even remotely similar. You should've heard the arguments we had when I was a teenager." Kris said smugly, arms crossed. This made Grace chuckle again, and Norm scoffed.

"You should probably meet everyone else working with us." Grace then said. Kris was glad that Grace could make an uncomfortable situation go back to normal.

"Okay," Kris replied, following Grace, Norm following Kris.

"Norm, do you know where Jake went?" Grace asked as the three of them walked.

"No," Norm said as he and Kris caught up to Grace. "He might be doing a video log. Which would be surprising."

"Do I even have to ask about that?" Kris said as the three of them turned down a hallway. "Everyone here does a video log about their experience. Most of the Marines here think it's stupid." Grace explained quickly.

"And I'd have to agree with them mostly. And not because I'm some Jarhead. Because I have shitty social and communication skills." Kris said bluntly. Then they entered a dimly lit room, and Jake was on the other side at the camera used for the video logs.

"Jake, I'm glad you're done with that." Grace said as a man in a wheelchair turned away from the camera used for the logs. "You should meet the newest team member. She's taking Nathan's spot."

"She?" Jake said as he wheeled up to Grace, Norm, &amp; Kris.

"Yeah, she. Is that a problem?" Kris said. This made Jake look up at her.

"I didn't know Nathan's twin was a girl." he said to no one in particular. Then Grace rolled her eyes, sensing the obvious tension already forming between the two.

"Okay, past that, I'll just introduce you already. Jake, this is Kris. Kris this is Jake." Grace said, her annoyance obvious in her voice. No one said anything. Grace rolled her eyes again. "Okay, we have a lot of things to get done today, let's go." she said, making Kris and Norm exit the room first.

"Who else do I have to meet? I think I've had my fair share of introductions today." Kris said, obviously annoyed at Jake's rudeness.

"You'll find out when you meet her." Grace said, passing Kris and Norm.

"Oh, well at least it's not another Jarhead guy." Kris said, not quite as annoyed anymore. "You know I heard that." Jake said from behind her.

"I don't care." she said bluntly, her annoyance coming back.

"Do you have a problem with me?" Jake then asked her, rolling up beside her, taking up the whole hallway.

"Do you have a problem with me? 'Cuz if not, then back the fuck off." Kris said, now getting flat out pissed off. This confused Jake, but he didn't say another word.

"You know Kris, you're probably gonna like Trudy. You're a lot like her." Norm said, looking back at Kris as they were all going down the hallway.

"Cool," Kris said, no longer annoyed or pissed off, which confused Jake the most out of everyone there.

Grace, Norm, Jake, and Kris were soon in what looked a little bit like a gym. There weren't very many people in the room, so it was easy for Grace to find Trudy. She was over at one of the several punching bags in the room.

"Trudy, I want you to meet the person taking Nathan's place." Grace said once they had approached the woman. She stopped what she was doing to look over at the small group. "Who?" she asked, panting slightly from the workout.

"This is Nathan's twin sister, Kris." Grace introduced the two women.

"Hi," Trudy said, holding out her hand for Kris to shake.

Kris took it, and said, "Hi," back. Then Trudy went back to the punching bag, and Grace turned to face Kris.

"Well, that's it for me. Unless you want to know more about what you're going to be helping us with." Grace said, starting back towards the exit of the rather large room. "I think I'll just stick to building up suspense and finding out about everything as it comes." Kris said. As the four got closer to the exit, none other than Kris' father came through the door.

"God almighty, I hope he's not looking for me." Kris said, hiding behind Norm as the four approached the Colonel. He saw Kris anyways. "There you are." he said. "Shit," Kris whispered, coming from behind Norm. "What?" she asked, obviously annoyed. "You shouldn't be around them. You're a Marine. Marine's here don't get into all this damn science stuff." he said to her flat out. This slightly offended Grace and Norm, and Kris could tell, which really pissed her off. It took her a little while to say something back to him. "Too fucking bad. I like being around them." she retorted. "You should be training for something else. Not some stupid science shit." he said, looking Kris straight in the face. "God dammit dad, that's why I'm fucking here! To help them with this fucking 'science shit' as you call it! Damn." she practically exploded in his face. This sudden outburst surprised even Quaritch. But he recovered quickly. "Kristyn Rosalie Warlick-Quaritch! What the HELL gives you the grounds to talk to me like that?" he practically yelled, now in her face and all father/marine-mode on her. She didn't back down for a second. "The fact that I'm not fucking 16 anymore and can say what I very damn well please." she replied viciously. Then, as a gut reaction and as a colonel in the Marines, he raised his hand to hit her, which surprised Grace, Norm and Jake. When he swung, what seemed like the impossible happened. Kris grabbed his wrist mid-swing, now just inches from his face. Fury was radiating off both of them like heat off a car on a hot day. "Mind check. I'm your fucking daughter. Last time I remembered, you're not allowed to hit me. I don't give a damn if I'm in the Marine Corps; that still gives you no goddamn grounds for it. So get the hell out of my face and let me go do what the fuck I want." Kris said, malice laced into her voice.

Now even Trudy was over near the group, a little freaked out by what was happening. Kris finally let go of her father's arm, glaring at him. She then pushed him out of the way - which no one thought was even possible for someone her size - and quickly exited the room, flipping off her father as she left. No one tried to say anything to the outraged colonel, and Trudy decided to leave with Grace, Norm, and Jake. All four of them were at a loss for words as they started down a hallway. Finally, Grace broke the silence. "Someone should go find Kris, make sure she's okay. The way her father treated her was beyond unacceptable, even if she was treating him the same way." she said, the worry obvious in her voice. "I'll go find her." Trudy spoke up. "I doubt any more male company would do her any good." she continued as she branched off down a different hallway from the others.

Surprisingly, it didn't take Trudy that long to find Kris. She was sitting in a hallway, her back against the wall, staring into space. Trudy decided to go sit beside her. "Hi," she said, looking over at Kris. "Hi," Kris said back, very little feeling in her voice. 'Damn, her father messed her up good.' Trudy thought. "You know, no offense or anything, but you look like a lost puppy that's been kicked too many times." Trudy said, hoping that wouldn't get Kris more pissed off than she already was. "You got that from The Outsiders." Kris said, looking over at Trudy. "Yeah," Trudy said back, staring into space, too. "It was my favorite book when I was a teenager." "Me, too," Kris said back, smiling a little. "So, I'm gonna guess you probably have some extra steam to let out from the earlier thing with your dad?" Trudy then said. "Yeah, more like a lot." Kris said, sounding irritated. "Well then come on, I don't think anyone stuck around in the supposed 'gym' some science geek put up via orders from your father, so why don't we both go? I've always got extra steam to let out." Trudy said, standing up. She then helped Kris up, and the two went to the 'gym'. On the way, Kris was in much higher spirits than she had previously.


	2. Chapter 2

~a few hours later~

Kris had finally seemed to get out all the anger she had been suppressing because of her dad. After about four hours.

"So, do you have an Avatar or whatever?" Trudy asked Kris as the two of them were leaving the so-called 'gym'. "Oh wait, stupid question. Of course you do. I forgot." Trudy said all of a sudden. Kris chuckled slightly. "Yeah," she said to Trudy's last statement. As they turned a corner, they saw none other than Jake, who was headed towards the Avatar room. When he saw Trudy and Kris, he gave them an odd expression. "It's called letting out anger on a punching bag for four hours, if you must know." Trudy said a little sharply as she and Kris stopped in front of him. He just slightly nodded, kind of staring into space. Then Norm came from behind Jake with Grace. They were talking about the Avatars.

"Oh, hi guys," Grace said when she saw the three. They all said hi back. "So, Kris, we're almost ready to let you take your first test run with your avatar. You get to start early. We'll be around also, though. In our avatars. "Cool," Kris said, now glad that her mood had dramatically improved. "Maybe now you'll be able to beat your dad's ass if he get's in your way." Trudy said at random. Kris smirked in an amused kind of way. "Yeah, definitely," she agreed. Then Trudy started down the hallway again, leaving Kris, Grace, Norm &amp; Jake since they were right in front of the Avatar room. Then they all entered the room and got prepped to go into their mind state for the avatars, Grace telling Kris what to do and other things like that.

When Kris opened her eyes, she was in a bright white room, and was so confused. Then she heard Grace's &amp; Norm's voices from the other side of the room. She moved around a little, slowly adjusting to the bright light and trying to sit up. She decided to go slow, since she knew she'd probably get yelled at if she didn't. Eventually she was sitting all the way up and took in her surroundings. It almost looked like a hospital where she was. And she hates hospitals. When she looked down at herself, she almost jumped out of her skin. 'Dude, I'm blue, and really big.' she thought, looking at one of her hands and holding it up in front of her face. Then she heard her name, and looked over where Grace and Norm were. Grace was now walking towards her, smiling.

"Finally," she said, stopping at the foot of the bed Kris was on. "It took a lot longer for you to transfer to this body. It worried the hell out of us. That's never happened with anyone else before." "Well then that's probably why I feel like a piece of shit right now." Kris said, rubbing her neck. Then Grace scoffed, amused. "Well at least we know nothing bad happened between the transfer." Grace said. "Yeah," Kris said, looking around. "Nothing changed." "Well, you wanna start walking? I know, it sounds incredibly elementary, but it's not easy going from five feet something to ten feet." Grace then asked. "Uh, yeah, sure." Kris said. Then she swung her feet over the side of the bed and stood up, taking her time since she felt so bad. Once she had her balance, she decided to stretch because she felt really stiff.

"This is good." Grace said after Kris had stretched, smiling. Then Kris decided to try walking. She went kind of slow at first, which was a good thing because eventually she got the point where she could walk normally and not be afraid of falling.

~about two weeks later~

Kris and Trudy had become really close since Kris had gotten to Pandora. They often sat together at meals and also went to work out together every day. By the end of that week, they both knew pretty much everything about each other. Like how Trudy never attended the church services because she was Catholic and how Kris' childhood was with her dad.

One day, as Trudy was walking towards Kris' sleeping quarters, she heard yelling coming from a different hallway. It sounded like Kris and Trudy knew Quaritch was definitely the other person in the argument. When she looked down the hallway the argument was coming from, Quaritch basically had Kris cornered and was all up in her face. "You do NOT form any kind of relations in any of these battalions, do you hear me!?" was the first clear sentence Trudy heard come out of Quaritch's mouth. Kris was right back in her father's face. "I don't care what you have to say about this! You're only telling this to me because I'm your daughter! I know of plenty of people that are in relationships here!" Kris shouted back, tears streaming down her face. "You just don't want me in an relationship because you hate Jake! You wouldn't say a single word about it if it was someone else!"

The next thing Trudy saw was unbelievable. Quaritch backhanded Kris. Hard. Hard enough to knock her to the floor unconscious. "My work here is done." Quaritch then said, starting toward where Trudy was hiding. She quickly started going down a different hallway so Quaritch wouldn't get suspicious if he saw her. After she figured the coast was clear, she started back towards the hallway Kris was on. When she got there Jake was with Kris, out of is wheelchair and on the floor, holding Kris. Trudy went right up to the two to see if Kris was alright.

"Hey, is she gonna be okay?" Trudy asked Jake, sitting on the floor next to the still unconscious Kris. "I sure hope so." Jake said, looking down at Kris' gashed and bloody face. "Let me go get Grace." Trudy said, standing up. "No, wait," Jake said before Trudy walked off. "Get Norm instead. I don't want Grace getting suspicious. Norm already knows." Trudy just nodded and ran to go find Norm. When she did, the look in her eyes made him worried.

"Kris is hurt," is all Trudy said and Norm was running right behind her to he hallway where Kris and Jake were. When they got there, Norm made a noise like the gash on Kris' face must've been painful. He kneeled down in front of her and Jake. "She's still unconscious." Jake said, worry threaded into his voice. Norm had never heard him so worried before. "Grace really needs to be the one to take a look at this." Norm said, picking up Kris. Jake got back into his wheel chair, following Norm and Trudy as they went to find Grace. When they did find her, the look on her face was of severe shock because of the gash on Kris' face.

"Does anyone know what happened?" Grace asked as Norm laid Kris on a table because she was still unconscious. "Her and her dad were in some huge argument and next thing I know, he backhands her so hard she fell to the floor unconscious." Trudy explained as Grace examined the wound. "What were they arguing about to the point that he hit her?" Grace asked, looking up. Trudy just shrugged, which relieved both guys because Grace couldn't know about Kris and Jake.

It took about an hour for Kris to come back to consciousness. The whole time, Grace, Trudy, Norm, and Jake stayed with her, just talking about random stuff. Eventually Grace said, "We need to get Kris out of this hellhole. I think we should take her and her avatar with us to the mountains." The other three all nodded in agreement, knowing it would help Kris with what she's had to deal with recently.

~The Hallelujah Mountains~

It was the first full day Trudy, Grace, Norm, Kris, and Jake were in the Hallelujah Mountains. Kris was in awe of the entire mountain range, spending a lot of time outside looking around. Grace tried to explain why the mountains floated to Kris, but it went straight over her head, just like pretty much everything else Grace had said to her since she'd gotten to Pandora. Also, the gash that Quaritch gave Kris on her cheek had to have stitches, and Max did a very good job with it.

One day, while Grace and Jake were out in there avatars, Kris, Norm, and Trudy were stuck in the trailer they had to stay in because of a huge plasma storm that was making all the mountains run into each other, causing what seemed like very severe earthquakes. Kris was a little freaked out by it, but not to the point that she couldn't watch the unusual phenomenon. At one point, Trudy joined her at a window to look out at the unusual storm. She looked pissed off.

"Hey Trudy, you okay?" Kris asked, looking over at her now best friend. "Mm," Trudy grunted looking out the window. "Norm is being a dumbass." she finally said, still just looking out the window. Kris was kind of confused. "So you and him do have a 'thing' going on." Kris said, confirming the rumors she'd heard. "Yep," Trudy said, still looking out the window. "I'm not surprised rumors have been spread. Drama is what's been keeping us Marines alive through this hellhole." At that, Kris scoffed, slightly amused. "So how's that gash on your cheek been treatin' ya?" Trudy then asked, finally looking away from the window to look at Kris. "It hurts like hell." Kris replied. Trudy smirked. "I bet it does." she said, studying the wound. Just then, Grace and Jake walked into the room, Grace looking pretty pissed off.

"Trudy, what did you do to piss off Norm?" Grace asked, obviously annoyed. "Hey, it wasn't me. Hard to believe, but this time it's true." Trudy said kind of defensively. "Hey Kris," Jake said, wheeling over to Kris to give her a kiss. "Hey," Kris said, kissing Jake also. "Aww," Trudy said, smiling stupidly. "It's like high school all over again." Kris just looked over at Trudy and rolled her eyes, quickly bringing her attention back to Jake. "Hey, uh, Kris, I need to talk to you alone for a minute." Jake said, looking at Grace and Trudy when he said 'alone'. "Okay," Kris said, sounding kind of worried. Trudy gave Grace a look that said, 'What's going on?' and Grace just waved Trudy to leave with her.

When the two women were out of the room and down the hall a little bit, Grace stopped to talk to Trudy about what was going on. "The reason Jake sounded the way he did was because of something that happened with him and Neytiri last night." Grace said, staring Trudy straight in the eye. "What do you mean?" Trudy asked, sounding worried. "Well," Grace started, "Last night, before Jake got out of the link, well… he and Neytiri were mated before Eywa. That's not too good for Kris." Grace explained in a rush just to get it out of her system. Trudy's face was filled with shock. Even she knew what 'mating' meant. "Oh god," Trudy said, after a good solid minute of silence between the two of them.

Pretty soon they heard something like skin against skin and a big metal crash. Right after that, Kris came out of the room with tears streaming down her face and slammed the door behind her and grabbing an oxygen mask and going outside in the ever-worsening plasma storm. Trudy and Grace quickly ran to the room where Kris and Jake just were, only to find Jake on the floor, holding his jaw. Trudy quickly helped him up and into his wheelchair, despite the complaints from Jake. "What happened?" she finally asked him, sitting down on a bunk in front of him. "I'm sure Grace told you about what I did. I just told Kris the same thing. And now I feel like an idiot for doing it." Jake replied, staring into space. "Doing what? Telling Kris or fucking a Na'vi?" Trudy asked point blank, staring at Jake. Jake cringed at the work 'fuck', but still answered. "The second one," he said, sitting up straight. Trudy just rolled her eyes.

"You know, you probably just fucked up one of the sweetest people I've ever met because your avatar was after some big blue freak." Trudy finally said after a short silence, standing to exit the room and go find Kris. "Well, where did Kris go?" Jake asked just before Trudy and Grace left, looking up at them like a lost puppy. Trudy just shrugged, but all of a sudden, Grace's eyes were wide with fear. "She went outside," Grace said, running toward the door Kris had exited through. Jake was scared for Kris' life just then, but didn't want Grace going out there because of the plasma storm. "Grace, no! You can't go out there!" Jake called towards her as she started to get an oxygen mask. Grace stopped, and Trudy looked at both of them, thinking.

"I'll go look for her." Trudy finally said, heading towards Grace to get an oxygen mask. Jake put his head in his hands, seriously upset. "Trudy, don't," Grace said, grabbing her arm and looking her straight in the face. "You could die out there in this storm." "Key word there is 'could'." Trudy replied, putting the oxygen mask on. "I'm going." she said, and with that she left the bunker, heading into the unpredictable storm.


	3. Chapter 3

It was at least two hours until Trudy came back. That whole time, Grace, Jake, and Norm were really worried about both women. Jake kept on saying things like 'this is all my fault,' and 'I shouldn't have done that.' Every time he said something like that, Grace would reply with, "It's not your fault."

When Trudy was finally back, Kris wasn't with her. "Where's Kris?" Jake asked, his voice full of concern. Trudy shrugged. "I couldn't find her. I looked everywhere I could think of for her." she said, sitting down at the table the other three were sitting at with defeat. "I think she'll be okay." Grace finally said, looking up at the others. "Hopefully she found a safe place to get away from the storm." The look on Jake's face was heartbreaking. After a short silence from all four of them, Jake finally said, "Someone has got to go find her. And I think it should be me. I'm the one that screwed up, so I should be the one suffering out there, not Kris." With that, he wheeled himself over to the door to get an oxygen mask, the other three right behind him.

"Jake if you try to do this, you WILL die." Grace said as Jake got the oxygen mask on. "I don't care at this point." Jake replied, opening the door to go out into the plasma storm to look for Kris. Grace, Norm and Trudy just looked after him as he left, knowing they couldn't do anything to try to stop him.

Jake had been out there for about half an hour and had no luck in finding Kris. For a little while he just sat where he was, thinking. Then, all of a sudden, he remembered a secret place he an Kris would go to be alone that he knew no one else knew about. As he started heading in that direction, lightening began striking the mountains around him, sending chunks of rock flying everywhere. Jake went as fast as he could to get to place, and just barely dodged a few rocks and boulders.

When he finally reached his destination, he was relieved to see Kris facing away from him, seemingly unharmed. "Kris!" he yelled over the torrential storm, hoping to get her attention. Soon she looked back, tears still streaming down her face. Jake rolled up closer to her and soon was out of his wheelchair, sitting beside her in the safety of a tree trunk. "Kris, I'm so sorry. He started, looking over at her. "My life out there is completely different from the life I have here. Here, right now, I had never been scared so much in my life because I knew you were in danger, and I almost couldn't come out here to find you." he continued, hoping Kris was listening. Soon, Kris looked over at him, and the hurt he could see in her eyes even hurt him. "I am so, so sorry," he said, looking straight into Kris' eyes. Then she hugged him, crying even harder, and he hugged her back.

"Do you understand at all why I feel like I do?" Kris said after the hug, almost having to shout over the ever-worsening storm. "Yeah, I do," Jake replied, on the verge of tears himself. Kris just looked at him for a second, then all of a sudden she took off hers and his oxygen masks and kissed him, catching him a little off guard. He quickly recovered, though, and started kissing back. After the kiss and after the two of them got their masks back on, Jake got close to Kris' ear so he wouldn't have to shout. "We need to go back to the bunker." he said, hoping she wouldn't stay mad at him forever. "Okay," Kris said, standing up as Jake pushed himself back into his wheelchair. "They'll probably have a change of clothes for both of us when we get back." Kris said as they headed towards the bunker. "The static from the storm puts so much static in the air that when we go inside, we'll still have a bunch of static on us because of our clothes and won't be able to touch even each other if we don't get out of them. Grace told me about it." she concluded as they reached the bunker.

As Kris had suspected, there was a change of clothes for both her and Jake when they got back. As Jake was changing, he saw what Kris meant by all the static in their clothes. As his shirt touched the floor, a little tiny lightening-bolt like thing shot across the material. It startled him a little because he wasn't expecting something like that to happen.

Soon, everyone was safe in the bunker and static free, just sitting around talking because the storm was really loud to the point that none of them would be able to go to sleep even if they tried. Eventually, Grace went to examine some plants and stuff she and Norm had gathered earlier in the day and Trudy and Norm sneaked off, so Kris and Jake were alone. She was still really upset with him and didn't really want to talk to him, but he had other plans.

"Kris, I want to talk to you," he said when she started standing to go somewhere else. She stopped at the door, her back to him. "I know an apology won't be enough to fix this. But I want to make this work. I mean you and me." Then he paused, hoping his next words wouldn't upset her even more. "I love you." At that, Kris turned to face Jake again. Tears were running down her face as she walked towards him. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, staring at the floor with her arms crossed. When she looked back up at Jake, she could see in his eyes that he was being sincere.

"I loved you," she said, her voice cracking. Then she turned and started to leave again, but Jake caught up to her and grabbed her wrist before she could open the door. When looked at him, he was crying, too.

"Please, Kris," he said as she sat back down at the table. "I didn't realize how much I love you until I messed up."

"You love me more than her?" Kris asked, referring to Neytiri. Jake nodded.

"I've always loved you more. I never really loved her, I think. Not this Jake. Like I said before, out there is so different for me, sometimes I forget. I do that here, too, though. With all that. When I'm with you, I want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you." Kris was silent for a few minutes, taking in what Jake said.

"Maybe, in time, we can fix things," she said slowly, taking his hand. "But right now, we just can't be how we were. I'm too hurt. And you're right, an apology won't fix it, but I know that's all you can do." Then she kissed him lightly, but he didn't have time to react before she was gone.

~a few weeks later~

Kris had to be sent back to the main RDA headquarters, which really pissed her off. She'd had a really good time up in the mountains, and even started using her avatar more. When she got the orders to go back, Trudy, Norm, Grace, and Jake were all devastated. It was Trudy's job to take Kris back to the headquarters, and she new it would be a hard thing to do.

~RDA headquarters~

As soon as Kris got back, she had to get a lecture from Quaritch because apparently she wasn't supposed to go to the mountains with Norm, Trudy, Jake, and Grace. "Why do you care what I do around here!" Kris shouted at her father, pissed off at him. "You are here under my orders! You're here to do what your brother was supposed to do, and right now you're doing a very poor job of it!" Quaritch yelled back, equally pissed off. Then Kris just turned around and went back to the bunks she shared with about seven other women, hoping to stay away from her stupid father for as long as she could.

Her attempt at staying away from her father worked, much to her surprise and pleasure. She did all she could to stay away from him for the most part.

A week later, Grace, Norm, Trudy, and Jake were back from the mountains, but they weren't prepared for what they saw when they met up with Kris. At first no one could find her. Jake and Trudy were asking any Marine they knew if they had any idea where Kris was or could be, but most of the people they asked didn't even know she was back at headquarters before the other four. This really worried all four of them, and they tried as hard as they could to find her. After what seemed like forever, Trudy found her hiding in her barracks, unseen by everyone else in the room. Trudy made everyone that was in there leave and went to find Grace because she knew someone would flip shit if they saw guys in a women's barracks.

"Is she okay?" Grace asked Trudy as they walked towards the barrack she was in. Trudy just shrugged as she opened the door. Trudy led Kris out in the open and made her sit on a bottom bunk. She looked awful. Her skin was pale and taunt and she looked like she hadn't eaten in days. Grace looked completely shocked and forced Trudy and Kris to stay in the barrack so she could go get Max. He made Kris go directly to the infirmary, even though she could barely keep herself standing and had to be helped there by Trudy and Max.

As soon as Trudy and Max got Kris onto a bed she passed out and didn't wake up for hours. Trudy, Norm, Grace, and Jake stayed with her for the next couple of days while she was getting fluids through an IV and being fed through a feeding tube. Everyone took turns going to get food for each other while they were with Kris. Jake held her hand 24/7, even when he was asleep. After three days, Kris began to stir, surprising everyone.

"Kris?" Jake said, squeezing her hand gently. Her eyes fluttered open slowly, and she looked really confused for a second. Then she saw Jake, Trudy, Norm, Grace, and Max, and she smiled, more than happy that they were with her. Everyone seemed relieved that she was okay, and immediately asked about what happened.

"Why were you hiding?" Trudy asked. Kris looked down, starting to get really upset.

"Kris?" Jake said, squeezing her hand one more time. She looked up at everyone, crying.

"Just the usual," she said softly, refusing to look at anyone.

"This is more than just that. If it was 'just the usual,' you wouldn't have hid from everyone for so long." Jake said, sounding a little irritated. Kris didn't say anything else after that, refusing to say anything to anyone about what happened. "Does all of this have to do with your father?" Kris still wouldn't say anything and just stared off into space. Jake sighed, really irritated. He left the infirmary, on a mission to find Quaritch. Trudy ran after him, unsure of what he would do.

"Jake!" she called when she caught up with him, running to catch up. "What are you doing?"

"Finding Quaritch to figure out what the hell happened," he said with vengeance.

"Don't do that. They'll send you back. And if they send you back, who knows if we'll ever get Kris back completely."

This made Jake stop, and Trudy finally caught up with him.

"Then what are we gonna do to get her back?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. We might have to talk to Grace and Norm about this to figure anything out."

"Then let's go. The faster we figure this out, the better."


	4. Chapter 4

Norm, Grace, Jake, and Trudy were in Grace's office for almost two hours trying to figure out how to help Kris. Finally Trudy left to go talk to Kris some more.

"Hey Kris," Trudy said when she walked into the infirmary. No one else was in there, so Trudy decided to figure out what happened. After talking for about ten minutes, Kris finally told her what happened, and Trudy was furious. As she began walking out of the infirmary, Jake was coming in.

"Trudy, what are you doing?" he asked her as she walked through the door.

"Going to find Wainfleet. And when I do, I'm gonna kill that motherfucker." Trudy said, hate laced in all of her actions.

"Wait, what did he do?" Jake said, starting to follow her.

"You'll find out," Trudy said as she walked to the hangar where all the choppers were. Jake just started back towards the infirmary to go see Kris.

"Wainfleet!" Trudy called after she put an oxygen mask on, practically running toward where he was. He looked in her direction, and as soon as Trudy reached him, she yanked his oxygen mask off and punched him in the face, knocking him down. "Don't you EVER touch Kris again, or I'm going to kill you myself!" Then Trudy walked back into the base, everyone there staring at her as she walked away. When she got back inside, she heard the door from the hangar open behind her. Wainfleet was coming through the door, and he looked pissed. She just walked off, ignoring him.

"Hey!" Wainfleet called after her, following her. Trudy walked into the mess hall, where she knew a lot of people would be. Her hunch was right. Even Quaritch was in there.

When Wainfleet came through the door of the mess hall, Trudy punched him again, but he didn't fall and tried to punch her back. She dodged the punch and kneed him in his crotch, making him double over in pain. Then she walked out of the room again, not caring if anyone was staring at her.

In the infirmary, Jake and Kris were just talking. He wanted to help her get her mind off of everything, so they were talking about the avatars.

"You haven't been able to use your avatar much have you?" Jake asked her.

"Not really. But that really isn't my fault. My father didn't like that Nathan was coming here for the avatar program, so I know he's not happy that I'm doing it instead. But if it wasn't for the program, I wouldn't be here. I'd be on earth still, and God knows I don't want to go back there." Kris said, staring down at the bed sheets.

"What do you think Quaritch will do once you're out of here?"

"I don't even want to think about it. Probably attempt to get me sent back. And hopefully Grace can make it to where I stay. Make up something about how I'm needed or something."

"Well I think I can help with that if it comes down to it. Eykutan is going to let Grace come to Hometree, and maybe I can convince him to let you and Norm come as well."

"Really? I've never even met any of the Na'vi."

"Then hopefully I'll get lucky with my convincing."

Then Max came through the door with Kris' real first meal since she was put in the infirmary.

"Yes, food," Kris said with a smile.

"Hey, I'm gonna go find Grace and talk to her about our plan," Jake said as he headed for the door. Kris just nodded, her mouth already full of food. Jake just laughed at her, overjoyed that she was okay.

When he finally found Grace, he explained the plan to her quickly, and she agreed to let him talk to Eykutan about letting Norm and Kris go to Hometree. After he got in the link, the first thing he did was talk to Eykutan about the plan, and even though it took some convincing, he agreed to let Kris and Norm into the village, too. He agreed that they could come to the village the next day, and Jake only hoped Kris would be able to.

The next morning, Jake, Kris, Norm, and Grace were all getting ready to go into their links so they could go to Hometree. Everyone was worried about Kris doing it, though, since she was still weak. She assured everyone she was okay, though, so no one tried to push it.

"Okay guys, we all just need to stay together, especially you two," Grace said, looking at Kris and Norm. "And Kris, be extra careful to stay with me or Jake the whole time since you've barely done anything with your avatar." Kris nodded, about to get into the link. "See you there."

Naturally, Grace, Norm, and Kris had to be flown to Hometree by way of Trudy's Samson. She also stayed to wait on them since they could not keep their avatars in the village.

Kris was in awe of her surroundings and the Na'vi. A lot of the children surrounded Grace, very happy to see her. Norm had the same kind of expression on his face as Kris as he walked around the village, looking at everyone and everything around him. As Kris was discreetly following Grace around, someone tapped her shoulder. When she turned around, she saw Jake. Well, his avatar form.

"Hey," he said to Kris with a smile.

"Hey," she said back, also smiling. Then Grace came up to them.

"Thank you for convincing Eykutan to let all of us come," Grace said to Jake, smiling. "I don't think Norm knows what to do with himself." The three laughed at that, looking over to where Norm was. He was deeply engaged in a conversation with one of the Na'vi and looked like he was having a really good time.

"So how about the grand tour?" Jake said to Kris as Grace started talking to more of the children that had been in her school. Kris nodded, smiling as she followed Jake. Eventually they ran into Neytiri, and Kris felt really awkward.

"I'm gonna go find Grace," Kris told Jake after he introduced her to Neytiri. She felt uncomfortable because of Neytiri, particularly because of the looks she kept on giving her, which made her think that Jake probably mentioned her to Neytiri at some point. Kris found Grace still talking to the children, but felt much more comfortable around her.

"Hey Grace," Kris said, sitting down next to her.

"Why aren't you with Jake?" Grace asked, looking confused.

"Things got a little... awkward," Kris said, not wanting to elaborate in front of the Na'vi children. Grace just nodded slowly, seeming to know what Kris meant. Then she introduced Kris to all of the children, even though Kris could not interact with the children because they did not know very much English and she didn't know any Na'vi. They stayed there most of the day, and Kris had a lot of fun despite the fact that she avoided Jake at all costs.

When they were all out of the link, Kris went missing again, but only because she didn't feel like seeing Jake.

"That girl can hide from you way too fast," Grace said when she realized Kris was gone.

"That's probably my fault," Jake said guiltily. Grace just gave him an accusatory look and walked out of the link room to go find Kris. Before finding Kris, she ran into Trudy, who offered to help find Kris. After thirty minutes of searching they finally found her, but she was really upset about what happened in the village.

"I don't want to go back there," she said to Grace, making herself perfectly clear.

"You don't have to go back if you don't want to. I'm sure Eykutan and Mo'at will understand." Grace said, feeling sorry for Kris because of the situation with Jake and Neytiri. Then Quaritch approached the women, looking straight at Kris.

"Kristyn, can I see you in my office please?" he said before turning around to walk towards his office. Kris was really confused because he didn't sound mad about anything AND he said please, which was very rare for him. Grace and Trudy looked confused, too, but Kris just followed her father to his office. When she was in there, Quaritch made sure the door was locked, which confused Kris even more. When he sat down across from her, he looked perfectly calm and Kris started to get scared.

"You're probably wondering why I wanted to talk to you," Quaritch started. Kris nodded, still really confused. "Well, before I say anything about what I really need to talk to you about, I just wanted to say... I'm sorry. I haven't been an actual father to you since your mother died, or even before then, and I feel like that has a lot to do with the fact that you hate me. I know it's too late to do anything about it, but I just wanted to let you know that I should've been there for you like I was with your brother. I feel like you only grew up with one parent, and I wish I had been a father to you instead of ignoring you." Kris was completely baffled. She had no idea that her father felt that way, but she was glad he did because she had wished since she was ten that he would pay attention to her for things other than arguing. The fact that he admitted all the bad things he did made her want to cry, but she knew she couldn't cry in front of him because it's a sign of weakness. Quaritch continued talking before Kris even had a chance to say anything. "But now, what I really needed to talk to you about. I've been hearing rumors going around about something with you and Wainfleet, and I know you would never go near him willingly. What happened?"

Kris wasn't sure what to say. She had only told Trudy about it, but she assumed Wainfleet had something to say about it to anyone that would listen to him.

"If you don't want to tell me, you don't have to. I understand if it makes you uncomfortable or anything." Quaritch said when Kris was silent. Kris looked at her father and saw something in his expression that she had never seen before. He looked like he actually cared about what happened to her, and then she decided that she should tell him about what happened.

"Do you really want me to tell you?" she asked her father with a concerned look. He only nodded, staring her down a little bit. Kris took a deep breath, biting her lip as she looked down at her hands in her lap. "I was raped."

She was almost scared to see her father's reaction, but she looked up at him anyways. She had never seen him as angry as he was then. He stood up from the chair he was in and started walking towards the door of his office.

"What are you doing?" Kris asked him, following him out.

"Going to find Wainfleet. Then I'm going to kill him." Quaritch said, staring in front of him as he began his search. Kris had to practically run to keep up with him.

"Dad, don't," she said, stopping. Quaritch also stopped, but only because Kris called him "dad" for the first time in over ten years.

"Kris, let me do what I have to do. He never should have touched you or even gotten near you," he said. He had never called her by her nickname, but she liked it. "You can come watch if you want."

Kris smirked when Quaritch said that, and even though she wasn't sure she could watch her own father kill a man, she followed him anyways, hoping to see the fear of God in Wainfleet's eyes when they finally found him.

"Hey, dad? Thanks," she said as she continued walking with him. She smiled at him, glad to have her dad back. To her surprise, he also smiled, which she had never seen from him, not even when her mother was still alive. After searching for a few more minutes, the duo found Wainfleet with a group of Marines, goofing around.

"Wainfleet!" Quaritch called as he and Kris approached the group. When Wainfleet looked in his direction, he looked terrified because even he knew that Quaritch and Kris didn't get along.

"Yessir?" Wainfleet responded, his voice shaking a little. The fury he could see in Quaritch's face was more than enough to put the fear of God in him, and Kris was glad he looked so scared.

Quaritch stood in front of Wainfleet for a few seconds, seeming to be studying him. Finally, Quaritch took out his gun and shot Wainfleet twice, once in the crotch and once near his heart.

"If I ever find out that you, or any of you for that matter, touch my daughter again, I really will kill you," Quaritch said threateningly. Everyone else that was there looked baffled and terrified at the same time, making Kris laugh a little. Then Quaritch turned to her as the other Marines were leaving with Wainfleet in tow, heading for the infirmary. "Was that good enough?"

"Definitely," Kris said. "Thank you." Quaritch smiled again – this was a new record – and started walking with Kris again, this time towards the mess hall because it was dinner time. When they both got there, Kris went directly over to Grace, Norm, Trudy, and Jake, ignoring the rumbling in her stomach telling her to get food. "Guess what," she said enthusiastically as she sat down between Grace and Norm.

"What?" Trudy said, looking at Kris expectantly.

"Wainfleet has officially been taken care of. And you'll never guess who did it." Kris said with excitement.

"Then who did it?" Grace asked curiously.

"My dad."

Everyone was silent for a second, completely shocked. No one would have ever suspected that Quaritch would even want anything to do with Kris.

"What do you mean?" Norm asked, looking really confused.

"Well, to put it lightly, he shot the sonofabitch. It didn't kill him, but he'll be out for a while."

"Where?" Trudy asked, sounding really interested.

"Well, where do you think?" Kris asked. Then she just realized that everyone else seemed to know what she was talking about, but she hadn't told any of them. "Wait a minute. Trudy, you told them didn't you?" Trudy nodded guiltily, hoping Kris wasn't mad, but really, she wasn't. Kris finally felt like she wanted people to know about what happened just so she could tell them about what happened to him. "But I'm starving. See ya."

"Wait, aren't you gonna sit with us?" Trudy called after Kris as she began walking away. Kris turned around and shrugged.

"I might go sit with my dad," she said. Then she turned back around to get some food, leaving everyone else really confused. When she got her food and sat down with her dad, everyone around them looked kind of freaked out, but one look from Quaritch made them look away and mind their own business.


	5. Chapter 5

"I thought you'd be sitting with your friends or something," Quaritch said to Kris, looking over at her.

"Maybe at dinner," she said with a shrug. Quaritch was a little confused about why Kris would want to sit with him, but dismissed it as he enjoyed the company of his daughter for the first time in more than ten years.

Back over at everyone else, they were all watching Kris and Quaritch, completely shocked.

"What in the hell is going on?" Jake said, sounding kind of angry.

"Maybe Quaritch had a change of heart or something," Trudy said, still watching father and daughter. Grace scoffed at the comment, turning back around to eat.

"I highly doubt that," she said, shaking her head. "Kris is probably turning out just like him or something."

"Now I highly doubt that," Trudy said defiantly. "Kris is a tough cookie, but she wouldn't change in two seconds for no reason. Plus, when she came over here, she seemed like her normal self."

"I don't see how she is her "normal" self after all the shit she's been through," Grace commented as she continued eating.

"I think I'm gonna have to agree with Grace on this one. Kris is very impressionable," Jake commented, still sounding angry. Trudy stood up abruptly, making Jake, Grace, and Norm look up at her, confused.

"I'm not listening to this bullshit. Kris is not impressionable, nor is she capable of changing into someone she probably swore she'd never be like. But you can think what you want, just don't let me hear anything about it," Trudy said, sounding pissed off. Jake rolled his eyes as Trudy walked out of the mess hall, really mad. When she walked by the table Kris and Quaritch were at, Kris looked confused.

"Hang on dad, I'll be right back. I have a feeling there was some kind of argument between my group of friends or something," she said, standing up to follow Trudy. She walked out of the mess hall before Quaritch could even say anything, hoping she would be able to find Trudy. To her surprise, Trudy was sitting in the floor right outside the door of the mess hall, her back against the wall.

"Hey Trudy, what's going on?" Kris asked her friend as she sat next to her.

"People talking shit," Trudy said, rubbing her eyes. "Well, Norm didn't, but he probably agrees with me."

"What do you mean? Grace and Jake were saying stuff?"

"Yeah."

This really pissed off Kris. She thought for a second about how to approach the current situation, then got an idea. She pulled a tiny notebook out of her pocket and a pen and wrote two separate notes, one to Jake and one to Grace and folded them up into little footballs.

"Come on, you can sit with me. These little things are gonna get flicked over to Grace and Jake, hopefully at least hitting Jake." Kris said as she stood up, holding out her hand to help up Trudy.

"You know your dad doesn't like me, right?" Trudy said as they walked back into the mess hall.

"I think I'll be able to change his mind."

Trudy felt really weird sitting with her commander, but looked past that as Kris got her plan ready.

"Chacon," Quaritch said when he saw her. She just nodded at him, watching Kris. "Kris, what are you doing?"

"People are talking shit, so I'm gonna fix it," Kris explained as she positioned the first paper football.

"With paper?"

"It's a note to Grace and a note to Jake, because I don't feel like talking to them right now." Then she flicked one note over, then the other, hitting Jake both times.

"Nice hit," Trudy said, laughing.

Jake glared in Kris' direction when he got hit with the notes, picking both of them up.

"Here Grace, you got one, too," he said with fake enthusiasm. When he opened his, he read out loud. "Dear Jake, I just wanted to let you know that it's over. I'm tired of your bullshit and the fact that now you're talking shit about me. I wish it didn't have to end this way, but by the looks of it, you like some blue tail better than me despite the conversation we had that night, so I'm just not gonna bother waiting around for you. Hope you have a nice life. Kris." Jake was really upset by this, but didn't let anyone see it.

"Ouch," Norm said when Jake finished the note, giving him a sympathetic look. Jake just left the mess hall, avoiding Kris at all costs. "So Grace, what about yours?"

"She just said that she didn't like that I was talking shit about her behind her back and hopes we can still be friends. I guess Jake won't ever have a chance of making things right with her anymore, though." Grace replied after reading her note.

"At least she doesn't hate you," Norm said optimistically. Grace shrugged, kind of agreeing with Norm. Just then, Trudy and Kris sat down with them again.

"Hey Kris, I'm sorry for what I said. I shouldn't be making assumptions about anything. I can tell I was wrong in what I said." Grace said to Kris when she sat down.

"Oh. Thanks," Kris said with a small smile.

"You aren't giving Jake another chance are you?"

"I highly doubt it.

"So you might, if the time was right?" Trudy said, not believing her. Kris shrugged.

"I don't really know yet. But I do know that I'm never going to get involved with him romantically ever again. That was probably a huge mistake from the beginning." she said simply. "So, are we taking the avatars back out today?"

"Well, Norm and I were going to go back to the village, but I know you probably don't want to come." Grace said, looking over at Kris.

"Actually, I think I will come. Other than the whole thing with Jake yesterday, I liked it."

"Okay, good. I'm glad you changed your mind. I think some of the natives like you."

Kris smiled at Grace's comment as the group of four stood up to leave the mess hall. As they were, Quaritch asked Kris what she would be doing for the rest of the day.

"Avatar stuff," she said as she walked with Trudy, Grace, and Norm. When they all got to the link room, Jake was already in one.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys when you're blue and ten feet tall," Trudy said, starting to walk back towards the exit. Kris waved at her as she got her link ready to go.

Once all three were in their avatar, Trudy flew them to Hometree, and for the first time, Eykutan and Mo'at let Trudy come into the village, too, even though she looked really small compared to the Na'vi.

"This is some crazy shit," Trudy said as she walked through the village, following Kris and Grace around.

"It's fascinating," Grace said, smirking because of Trudy's choice of words.

"It's really cool, isn't it?" Kris said, looking down at Trudy.

"If you wanna put it that way, I guess so," Trudy said, looking around in awe. A few of the Na'vi were looking at Trudy funny, but she ignored it. Soon they were in front of Mo'at, and Trudy became nervous because she wasn't sure how the Tsahik would react to her.

"Mo'at, this is Trudy, the woman I was telling you about." Grace said, introducing Trudy to the spiritual leader of the Omaticaya.

"Trudee," Mo'at said, testing her name. It seemed that Trudy was accepted, because Mo'at didn't say anything else, only started talking to Grace about something in Na'vi.


End file.
